Klarinet Archive - Posting 000595.txt from 1997/10

From: Antoine T Clark <s2atclar@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: Siegmeister
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 16:19:27 -0400

Thank you Gary for the information that you sent me. I am sure that this
information will help me understand this difficult piece that I am going
to play. Thanks for not replying in a sarcastic manner unlike some other
people out there. Mr. Peabody guy knows him I am talking about.

*********************
ANTOINE CLARK
s2atclar@-----.edu
Virginia Commonwealth
Univ.

On Mon, 13 Oct 1997 Gary_VanCott@-----.com wrote:

>
>
>
> Gary VanCott=NHIN
> 10/13/97 09:33 PM
> I checked the correct spelling in the composer file on Sneezy, then did a
> quick web search. With an unusal name like Siegmeister to work with, I
> turned up some information in under three minutes:
>
> There is quite a bit of information at:
> http://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/academic/music/American-Music-Resource/subject-i
> ndex/Siegmeister,Elie/
>
> Including this bio:
>
> Siegmeister, Elie - biography
>
> Biographical notes
>
> l. Composer, conductor, and writer on music.
>
> 2. Born in NY 15 January l909
>
> 3. At 15 entered Columbia College; studied theory and composition
> with Bingham; BA l927
>
> 4. Went to Paris in l927 to study with Boulanger for 4 years.
>
> 5. Studied conducting at Julliard under Stoessel from l935-8.
>
> 6. Member of the Composers Collective of NY.
>
> 7. Pseudonym L.E. Swift for songs written for Composers'
> Collective.
>
> 8. Helped found the American Composers Alliance in l937.
>
> 9. Served on the board of ASCAP from l977 until his death in l991.
>
> 10. His musical style is characterized by a synthesis of dramatic
> and lyrical, forceful and tender, dissonant and melodic; Most of
> his music reflects the influence of jazz.
>
> 11. Uses American folk material.
>
> 12. Uses native inspiration.
>
> 13. Represented in the 2nd Workers' Songbook as Swift.
>
> 14. Siegmeister's leftism in this period led to the most extended
> social history of music by an American to that time, MUSIC AND
> SOCIETY.
>
> 15. The Daily Worker and New Masses often reported on Siegmeister.
>
> 15. Siegmeister thought that there were no appropriate song texts
> for workers' music in English, so he and Ashley Pettis went to
> Russia to explore their proletarian music for models.
>
> 16. Siegmeister describes the role of the Russian composer as he
> saw it in l934: "A highly skilled and hence socially valuable
> worker."
>
> 17. Siegmeister recognizes Shostakovich's popularity in Russia--
> many of the Collective members sought to be like Shostakovich.
>
> 18. Connection with the communist party lessened for Siegmeister by
> l940.
>
> 19. All facets of Siegmeister's career--editor, composer, writer,
> and performer--was affected by folk music. Siegmeister, like other
> composers at this time, eventually looked to these roots for
> compositional inspiration.
>
> 20. While conducting a concert of new American music in the mid-
> 30s Siegmeister recalls that a sturdy and fearless looking woman
> arose from the audience to demand, "have you ever heard the music
> of the poeple?" It was Aunt Molly Jackson, and she became a big
> influence on Siegmeister. She also influenced Charles Seeger. She
> then proceeded to stop the show with her own ballad singing. 21.
> Siegmeister was also impressed by Carl Sandburg's THE AMERICAN
> SONGBOOK which was the first anthology of arranged folk songs in
> which he was aware.
>
> 22. Siegmeister's compositions in the early and mid l930s reflected
> his musical Americanism as a concern fro American social problems,
> but by the late 30s his compositions (such as American Holiday)
> reflected a heightened musical Americanism--which was exemplified
> by his use of folksong.
>
> 23. Siegmister wrote, "In the State of Serious Music in America
> about l935--that of a rather abtruse, over-dissonant, and
> intellectualized art--contact with the simple, human, quality of
> our folk tradition was a healthy stimulating factor."
>
> 24. Siegmeister did everything he could to come in contact with
> rural life. He formed the Ballad Singers (a professional group of
> singers specializing in folk song performance) to travel around the
> country for four years. He was the conductor and arranger.
>
> 4/93
>
> ***************
> Gary Van Cott
> Las Vegas, NV
>
>
>